Thursday, 4 June 2015

Hey guys! I'm here today with a post from Nick Wilford's blog tour for his new book, A Change of Mind! Take it away, Nick!

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Thanks
for helping me out on my tour today, Kyra! The following is a recording of a
phone call between Minerva, an employee at Harbinger Industries and character
in my novella A Change of Mind, and her best friend Zoe from her home town of
Oxford. Minerva moved to London to seek her fortune, but the two keep in touch
regularly. The conversation turns to work.

Zoe:
So, how’s everything going?

Minerva:
At Harbinger? Not bad. It’s been about a month now, and I think I’ve got the
place figured out. At least, the girls on my floor are alright.

Zoe:
Any big nights out?

Minerva:
No, not so much. They’re a bit older, you know? But a great bunch of ladies. The
younger crowd are on the floor upstairs, and I talk to them if I have to go up
and see the boss. And they’re mostly guys.

Zoe:
Let’s hear more about them. Any catch your eye?

Minerva:
Naahh. They’re a bit rough and ready with the banter, not very refined. Well,
except one. He’s a bit more mysterious and keeps himself to himself.

Zoe:
What’s his name?

Minerva:
Reuben. He’s very shy, he’s only given me a few glances and we’ve never really
spoken. He doesn’t seem part of the team.

Zoe:
The strong and silent type. Maybe you should make a move on him!

Minerva:
Err, no, I’ve never seen him like that. He’s just sort of there, you know? I
don’t know, it’s a bit frustrating. I’m not really looking for that, I just
hoped I’d make friends and have a good social life here, but it’s either the
ladies who are too old or the lads who are only interested in boozy nights down
the pub.

Zoe:
Well, looks like I’ll have to invite myself through, then.

Minerva:
Yeah, that’d be good! Let’s make plans.

* * *

Title: A Change of Mind and Other Stories

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: Speculative fiction

Format: Ebook only

Page/word count: 107 pages, approx. 32,000 words

Release date: 25th May 2015

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing

Blurb:

A Change of Mind and Other Stories consists of a novella,
four short stories and one flash fiction piece. This collection puts the
extremes of human behaviour under the microscope with the help of lashings of
dark humour, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse
magazine.

In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker
so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male
colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points
him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he
can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.

But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a
start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to
alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be…

In Marissa, a man who is determined to find
evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have
left well alone.

The Dog God finds a chink in the armour of a man
with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.

In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively
regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his
routine doesn’t work for him.

Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a
lifelong ambition.

The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope
as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by
jealousy.

Meet the author:
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter or Goodreads.
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Game On Series by Kyra Lennon (Game On #1-4)Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Book 1 - Game On:

After swapping her small town life to work for one of the top soccer teams in the U.S, Leah Walker thought she could finally leave the ghosts of her past behind. However, when she meets serial womanizer, Radleigh McCoy, the memories of her old life come swarming back, and she is forced to ask herself whether she has really changed at all.

Book 2 - Blindsided:

After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter's cousin, Isabelle. Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they've gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He's everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?

Book 3 - Sidelined:

At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen. Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make. While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.

Book 4 - Play On:

Freya Phillips’ life was flipped upside down when she lost the man she loved in a tragic accident. Now she has to piece together the remains of her shattered heart and try to find a way to push through her pain to get her life back on track. With reminders of what she’s lost at every turn, anxiety takes over and instead of moving forwards, she finds herself hurtling in the wrong direction. Freya’s downward spiral leads her unexpectedly into the arms of one of her oldest friends, and as they seek comfort in each other, they realise they have more than just grief in common. Guilt-ridden and confused, Freya is too ashamed to tell anyone what she’s done, but there’s no such thing as a secret in Westberg. When the truth gets out, will Freya escape the gossip with her friendships and pride intact, or will she lose more than she ever bargained for?

Author Bio:

Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. Fiction writing has always been her passion, but she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites.

Friday, 20 February 2015

There’s something about that one person we date in our teens but never become intimate with. Why does a sexless relationship render us unable to stop carrying that person, the what if, with us into our adult life?

For Heidi Johnson, Shane Hughes is her “one that got away.” Through the years, he has stayed in the back of her mind while she became an adult, a mother, and her own person. Meanwhile, Shane has lived a life of regret that he let Heidi go for the wrong reasons: fear and a misguided sense of not wanting to hurt either of them. When they reconnect online, the memories they've tried to suppress over the years return, reigniting the feelings never explored ‘back in the day.’ Will a school reunion in their home town of London, surrounded by old school friends, help the pair address the questions the years apart left unanswered? Or will they still be left with wanting more?

For almost half an hour I sat at an abandoned table by the wall, smoking my cigarettes one after the other. Apart from a few voices filtering out through the open doors, I sat in complete silence. Not one other person came out, but I could hear voices. It seemed most of the smokers were outside the front, leaving me to feel like I was the only smoker in the building.

Leaning back against the wall, I let the soft breeze play over my flushed face and was savouring a bit of peace and quiet when I looked at my watch and jumped. I hadn’t realised that it was so late—time certainly does fly when you’re having fun. Which I had been having, before the need to escape into the dark overtook me. Crushing out my cigarette in the huge metal ashtray, I stood to go back inside. I stalled when I caught sight of Shane making his way through the crowded downstairs room of the pub, walking in the direction of the beer garden. Towards me. Crumpling back down onto the seat, I lit another cigarette, my hand shaking from nerves, and . . . something else. It was okay sitting close to him in a crowded room surrounded by people, but the garden was deserted and dark. He spotted me pretty quick thanks to the glowing orange tip of my lit cigarette.

“Nice spot.” He pointed to the overhanging branches of ivy that partially hid the table. Without speaking further, he sat down next to me and took my face between his warm, strong hands. All I could see were his beautiful eyes locking on me—right before his lips crashed into mine.

M. B. Feeney is an army brat who finally settled down in Birmingham, UK with her other half, two kids and a dog. Currently at university studying for her BA (Hons) in primary teaching, she procrastinates on her assignments by listening to music of all genres and trying to get ‘just one more paragraph’ written on whichever WIP is open. She is also a serious doodler and chocoholic. Writing has been her one true love ever since she could spell, and publishing is the final culmination of her hard work and ambition.

Her publishing career began with two novellas, and she currently has multiple projects under way whilst Honour, a compilation of her own military based shorts, was released in November 2013. Always having something on the go can often lead to block which eventually gets dissolved by good music and an even better book.
Her main reason for writing is to not only give her readers enjoyment, but also to create a story and characters that stay with readers long after the book is finished, and possibly make someone stop and think “what if...”